CFP: [20th] 29th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts

full name / name of organization:

Graham J. Murphy

contact email:

grahammurphy@trentu.ca

The 29th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts

Delightful Horror and the Sense of Wonder:Appreciating the Sublime in the Fantastic

The 29th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts will be heldMarch 19-23, 2008, at the Marriott Orlando Airport Hotel in Orlando,Florida. The focus of ICFA-29 is on the relationship between the sense ofwonder embodied by the sublime and the fantastic in literature, film, andother media. The sheer magnitude of the universe gives rise to the amazing,the astonishing, the astounding, the thrilling, and the wondrous. EdmundBurke argued it is â€œinfinity [that] has a tendency to fill the mind withthat sort of delightful horror which is the most genuine effect and truesttest of the sublime.â€ It then should come as no surprise that the sublimehas been a mainstay in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other relatedfantastic modes. Papers are invited that explore this topic. In addition,we especially look forward to papers on the work of our guests:

As always, we also welcome proposals for individual papers and for academicsessions and panels on any aspect of the fantastic in any media. The newdeadline is October 31, 2007 but we will be happy to consider papers untilthe original deadline (November 30), pending availability.

We encourage work from institutionally-affiliated scholars, independentscholars, international scholars who work in languages other than English,graduate students, and undergraduate students.

The Jamie Bishop Memorial Award for an Essay Not in English is open to allmembers of the IAFA. The IAFA Graduate Student Award is open to allgraduate students presenting papers at the yearâ€™s conference. Details areavailable via Robin Reid, Second Vice-President(Robin_Reid_at_tamu-commerce.edu). Finally, the Dell Magazines UndergraduateScience Fiction Award will also be handed out at this yearâ€™s conference.